Jan 6th Committee Asks SCOTUS to Deny Trump’s Request to Shield White House Records

Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court last week to block the National Archives from turning over any of his White House records to the January 6th House Select Committee after lower courts sided with the panel’s efforts. The court is likely to seek a response from the National Archives before it decides whether to take the case. There is no deadline for the court to act.

Now the Select Committee has asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to reject Trump’s request.

Trump’s legal team has argued that the courts were wrong to find that the House committee has a legitimate legislative purpose in seeking the documents. Its real purpose isn’t merely fact-finding, his attorneys have argued, but an attempt to seek information that would embarrass Trump. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled this month that Trump has not shown any specific harm that he would suffer from the disclosure of the documents. In addition, the appeals court said that while Trump retained limited authority to claim executive privilege, it wasn’t strong enough to overcome Biden’s determination that Congress has a legitimate need for the records.

False. The ⁦@January6thCmte⁩ hasn’t dropped requests for any necessary records. In fact, we’re actively litigating to obtain White House records Trump is trying to conceal. We will not allow him to hide the truth about January 6th, or his conduct, from the American people. pic.twitter.com/q2YBqVlyXq

— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) December 30, 2021

The House committee is pursuing a trove of documents related to the events of January 6th, including records of communications between the White House and the Department of Justice leading up to the attack on the Capitol. Trump has objected, claiming executive privilege over the documents, but President Joe Biden declined to deem the records privileged. Instead, Biden directed the National Archives to hand over the materials to the committee.

*NEW* VIDEO: #ShockingUnansweredJan6Questions

19 shocking questions Republicans don't want answered about January 6.

Please retweet and quote retweet widely! pic.twitter.com/SvB1XpbV7Z

— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) November 23, 2021

Earlier this week, the Select Committee reached an agreement with the Biden White House to defer its request for some Trump records, indicating there were documents that Biden was not willing to turn over to the panel. The agreement mostly shields records that do not involve the events of Jan. 6 but were covered by the committee’s request for documents from the Trump White House about the events of that day.

Jan. 6 Committee has asked the Supreme Court to not even bother hearing Trump's case for hiding documents, given the detailed Appeals Court ruling.

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The committee also argued that if the court wants to hear arguments and refuses to dismiss, then it should hear it quickly.

— Duty To Warn 🔉 (@duty2warn) December 30, 2021

“Although the facts are unprecedented, this case is not a difficult one. [Trump] attempts to overturn the current President’s reasonable determination that the Select Committee is entitled to three tranches of Presidential records responsive to its request,” the House committee said in a 44-page court filing. “To the extent any novel questions linger in the background, this case would be a poor vehicle to address them. This Court’s review is unwarranted, and [Trump’s] petition … should be denied,” the panel added.

Trump is trying really hard to keep the Jan 6 White House documents from being released. I don't trust anyone who works so hard to keep secrets.

— Frank Giugliano (@nyccookies) December 24, 2021